Jaguar Land Rover sends 16 historic vehicles to British museum

Special Vehicles Operations division of Jaguar Land Rover spent some $170 million to purchase the largest private classic car collection in England.

Jaguar Land Rover purchased this collection for $170 million | Jaguar Land Rover SVO photo

You may recall that earlier this year, the Special Vehicles Operations division of Jaguar Land Rover spent some $170 million to purchase the largest private classic car collection in England, the 543 vehicles owned by British cosmetic dentist James Hull. The core of that collection included 140 cars significant to Jaguar’s history.

Now that Jaguar Land Rover SVO has had some time to curate the collection, it is sending 16 “important” British vehicles to the country’s Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, for a display that opens Saturday, November 22. Among that group of 16 are four historically significant Jaguars, as well as 12 other British vehicles.

Several other vehicles are being used as part of the new Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience, which launched a week ago at Jaguar Land Rover’s Midlands-based Fen End vehicle testing facility.

The Jaguars going on display are a unique E-type modified in the 1960s by Jaguar dealer Coombes of Guildford, a 1930 SS “Airline” sedan, an aluminum-bodied XK 120 OTS and a MK II 3.8.

Also on display at the Heritage Motor Centre will be a Bentley R-type Continental, a Graber-bodied Alvis convertible, an Allard P2 “woodie” estate car, and a Mini Traveller formerly owned by Lord Mountbatten.

“These 16 cars not only complement our own outstanding collection of British models but give an insight into one of the most fascinating collections of classic cars in the world,” museum curator Steve Laing said in a news release announcing the new exhibit.